This was shot at 5:30 PM, just as the sun was dipping below the 3000ft walls of Yosemite Valley. My friends and I had hiked to the Top of Yosemite Falls that day - this is taken around the corner from the waterfall.

The hike is 8 hours, round trip, with a 2,700ft elevation gain. LOTS of switchbacks and big steps, but well worth the view! Read more about the hike on the National Park Service site.

Camera 📸

angle

I had the GoPro in the palm of my hand without any mount/case on. I think this really paid off as my arm serves as a great leading line to my body then the valley/sun flare. The purple and red hues on the valley walls/my shirt aren’t added in post - those colors were clearly visible as the sun was dipping down into the sky. Pretty nuts.

Edit & Settings

I edited this image in Adobe Lightroom for 10 minutes. Overall, I had a decent shot to start with. I had my GoPro on Flat color (not GoPro color) in order to have the most control over color in post-processing. GoPro color is a bit over saturated for me.

I had RAW image processing turned on in order to maximize control while editing. It was in Photo Time Lapse mode, set at 5 seconds (the fastest interval that you can shoot at while capturing RAW images).

Alternative Shots

The key to capturing one great image, is to capture many around an idea and pick the best.

Below are some additional images that didn't get selected as my favorite.